Burnham as PM is not the answer to Labour's woes

Just when even Sir Keir Starmer must have been giving some thought to his political survival - everyone else is, after all - along comes Danny Kruger, one of the more “individual” members of parliament, to provide some respite from his troubles.

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It is not just that Mr Kruger and his new party leader, Nigel Farage, will helpfully distract attention and grab the headlines for a while, but also that this latest defection from the Conservatives to Reform UK shows just how divided the right of British politics remains. Mr Kruger declares that his old party is “over, over as a national party”, which may be true, but not so true that it could not still prove an obstacle to Mr Farage when the general election does eventually come round.

During their joint press conference, Mr Farage was asked if he'd prefer to face Sir Keir or Andy Burnham as Labour leader and prime minister at the next general election. Never one to miss a further opportunity to destabilise another rival party, Mr Farage opined that Sir Keir wouldn't be in office for much longer anyway, and that Mr Burnham would push Labour so far to the left, he'd lose. Therefore, the Reform leader added, he “wasn’t bothered”.

A smart answer - but one that betrays itself, and should be taken seriously by Labour MPs, because it happens to be true.

A shift to the left would serve Labour and the country badly. There is no necessary or logical reason to believe that Mr Burnham, even if he overcame the considerable practical political obstacles to getting into No 10 “by the back door”, would defeat Mr Farage, or see off Labour’s other rivals to the left, right and centre.